Still In Denial
by CowboySpike
Summary: Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba and Ino have a band. Chapter five, the morning after? (AU continuation of sorts of a story called Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial)
1. Ch 1

Hiii. um this is AU. It goes along with my previous work, Hopeless Case of a Kid in Denial which is about Lee who is an art student and Sasuke has this band and.. well read it if you will. The story ID is 1252786. THIS story focuses on Sasuke, Kiba and Naruto's band, Bohemianism. Also it will have more Ino and more.. other people besides Lee and Sakura (who are v happy together thxu). Okay disclaimer, this MAY end up being yaoi-ish... I haven't decided on SasuNaru or something else yet. So be on the lookout for that. Naruto is copyright someone else. Enjoi.  
  
-- STILL IN DENIAL  
  
Sasuke belted out the lyrics. It was nowhere near his usual 'silent storm' style of singing. Apparently he had forsaken the sexy, whispery quality of his voice and was just blasting forth, overpowering the current spectators.  
  
Ino stared, dumbfounded. She glanced down at the mixing board in front of her and scratched her head. If Sasuke decided to change his voice she would have to completely re-calibrate all the switches for optimal quality. Something she most certainly wasn't up for right now. She cut the sound.  
  
"For yoooooouuuuu!" Sasuke held the last note for a good three seconds after his guitar was cut off. Ino sauntered up to the platform. The other two boys, not surprised by the suddenness of the situation, joined Sasuke at the edge of the platform. Sasuke was glaring down at their bandmate; she, glaring up likewise. The short drummer and lanky bassist looked at each other, visibly dreading the face off that was about to happen. All were silent. The uninvolved two were waiting, anticipating the commencement of the scuffle...  
  
"Inoo" Sasuke drawled, making her name more of a sound rather than a word.  
  
"Yes dear?" Ino sharply answered.  
  
Naruto cringed at her tone. He only had to hear that hiss once every 28 days and it was damn early. Kiba briefly pondered what Sasuke's head might look like on a pike.  
  
"Everyone-" Sasuke said, addressing the room. "I'm in a strange state of mind this morning. Please don't allow me to affect your respective individual performances."  
  
The moody singer may as well have bowed. Ino's jaw dropped open. She was fully prepared to chew him most thoroughly out.  
  
"Well. I. Okay then." Ino stuttered. "As long as this... change isn't permanent."  
  
"It's not." The boy said quietly.  
  
Naruto grinned silently, as if his bandmate's apology was directed entirely at him. Seeing the great Sasuke knocked down a peg was one of Naruto's favorite guilty pleasures. The pleasure he took being guilty only because Sasuke usually attributed his bad luck to the blond drummer, and thusly acted upon his beliefs. With vengeance. Still, Naruto could not hold back the snickering.  
  
"What's the matter, Wonderboy? Your favorite groupie dump you last night? Or is it that not as many girls are throwing panties on stage anymore? OR!" Naruto interjected, struck with a solid gold insult (in his opinion). "Have you been getting more BOXERS than panties lately?!" Naruto's rant was concluded with raucous, violent laughter.   
  
Naruto gasped and cried and shook with laughter. It was pure bliss. Bliss, that look on Sasuke's face. Bliss, the shame he must have felt. Bliss, the silence of his other two bandmates who could only gape at the ludicrousness of the situation. Not even Sasuke's most virulent glare could penetrate Naruto's euphoria. A fist, though...  
  
-  
  
Sasuke stood with his head dropped to his chest. He had one hand latched onto his forehead, and the other clenched at his side. The idiot wasn't moving.   
  
It was like a blur, really. Naruto's laughter ended with all the abruptness of seeing a fist fly out at him from nowhere. A gasp and a shriek later, the annoying blond was sprawled out, just barely remaining balanced on the platform. Now Sasuke stared down at him. Angry at Naruto, but more angry with himself for wasting one of his greatest, most forceful blows on the damn idiot.   
  
"You punched him out!" Called the deep voice on the platform.  
  
"Yeah." Sasuke said with a crack in his voice. "You would have too." He managed before turning suddenly and heading for the loft's elevator.   
  
Sasuke held a stoic expression as he swiftly descended the couple of steps off the platform and quickly went across the room. Ino's eyes followed him a few steps, but she gave up before even trying to chide him and went to join Kiba by Naruto's motionless body.  
  
The dark haired boy's mind raced. That damn fucking idiot! He knew how taboo that subject was and he had the nerve to... to nearly expose the dreaded secret to their bandmates!! He thought it was a joke.  
  
A JOKE! God, that boy was unfathomably stupid. Dense. Non-smart. Sasuke was so mad, the adjectives stopped coming. He mashed the button on the elevator and made his descent. This was the farthest from a joke one could get.  
  
-  
  
"So should we poke him?"  
  
"Stop that. How would YOU like it if Sasuke knocked you cold and then you woke up to HIM poking YOU?" Ino said, gesturing between the two boys as she stressed their respective pronouns.   
  
"Yeah, ok. We move him. You get the feet. On three-" Kiba counted off and he and Ino hoisted the boy a few meters away to a couch that was next to a large window. They settled the boy in and stepped back, the blonde and brunet both catching sight of the weather simultaneously.  
  
"Raining." Ino said, simply put. Kiba grunted in agreement and the shorter blond began to stir.  
  
-  
  
The slowly dripping fat drops of rain plopped into Sasuke's hair and into his face as he plodded along. The explosions of thick concentrations of water dripped down his head, making his bangs stick to his face and his spine shiver as the water slid down his neck. In about five seconds it would begin to downpour; like buckets being dumped from the heavens.   
  
Sasuke's brooding reached a new low. Hell, the boy sang about how much he loved rain and misery, and now that he was caught in this torrential downpour he was, well... miserable. But, remaining stoic, he refused to follow the example of the rational public and jog to shelter. No, there was only one place he wanted to be right now.  
  
-  
  
Ino could have sworn that there was a sincere look of hurt on Naruto's face the moment he awoke. His blond brows were drawn together, forehead furrowed, and a deep sadness nestled in those pretty blue eyes. But only for a moment.  
  
"AAAUUGH." Naruto groaned. "God DAMN my face hurts!" He sobbed, obviously trying to milk some sympathy.   
  
"Yeah, it's killing me." Kiba said, bored of that cliché but too weak-willed not to use it.  
  
"Naruto you can be such a damned dolt sometimes. Making Sasuke storm off like that..." Ino teased, milking herself some passionate emotion.  
  
"SASUKE-!?" if one could call that passion. Naruto's face contorted into a horrible grimace of disgust. Kiba could have sworn there was a lawn gnome on their couch...  
  
"HOW COULD YOU BE SYMPATHIZING WITH THAT JERK!? I'M THE ONE WHO GOT HIT!!" he shrieked.  
  
"Quiet! Stupid! You must have said something wrong to make him hit you!" Ino countered.  
  
Naruto's mouth flapped like a fish's, too flabbergasted by the female's 'logic' to say a thing.  
  
"Actually I can't imagine why he would've hit you. All you said was something about boxers. Naruto, is he sensitive about his undergarments?" Ino inquired.  
  
"No- Naruto insinuated that he was gay or something. Is Sasuke GAY, Naruto?" Kiba said, treating that word like it was a dirty gym sock.  
  
Naruto's expression softened considerably as he pondered. "Well..."  
  
Yay, it's over! For now. You'll like the next chapter I think. It introduces someone familiar in an interesting role. :B But I dunno whom else to throw in here so.. suggestions being taken! 


	2. Ch 2

Hi. Welcome to chapter 2. -ding- Like I said, a familiar face in a surprising role. Tee. He really amuses me in this story so far. Sadly, I have no idea where else to take him. Hope you enjoy.  
  
--  
  
"Have I ever told you how cute you are when soaking wet?" The man observed, giggling a little.  
  
Sasuke glared bloody death into his eye. He did NOT want to deal with playful jibes tonight. "Let me in, you sick... rgh." The boy grunted. Great, no adjectives and now no nouns.  
  
"Now, now." The man cooed, moving aside. "That's no way to address an elder. Especially one as hospitable as myself."  
  
Sasuke ignored him and moved directly to the closet in which there were towels. Some would think it odd for an artist to know the complete layout of his label representative's home. However, Sasuke was no ordinary artist, and this label rep was no ordinary label rep. His name was Kakashi. He was also VP to the record company that Bohemianism was signed to. He was ALSO on a first-name basis with Sasuke.  
  
Kakashi looked at the boy endearingly through his one uncovered eye. The other was obstructed by a patch meant to mask some kind of 'battle scar'. Sasuke had seen it several times. "Hungry?" he asked, moving into the living room.  
  
Sasuke followed while grunting in the negative and, rather, just got to the point. "I punched him out today."  
  
"You punched him out." Kakashi restated, offering the boy a seat across from him on the sofa. "Excellent."  
  
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the sarcasm. "God, a little sympathy too much to ask for?" He muttered. "The idiot almost TOLD everyone!"  
  
"Hm. Well wouldn't it seem that he is just as embarrassed and clandestine as you about the whole thing?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Maybe what he did was his own way of... dealing. What DID he say, exactly?"  
  
"I don't remember." Sasuke answered truthfully, staring distractedly through the wall behind Kakashi's head. As soon as his fist connected with Naruto's jaw... all was lost.  
  
"I swear, you kids... When I was your age, the hardest part was coming out to your parents, not your own... lover. For chrissakes" He added as an afterthought.  
  
--  
  
"Yes." Naruto stated. "But I suppose in order for it to be morally right to reveal that to you, I should say- so am I." The blond said in all confidence.  
  
The heterosexual duo gaped, waiting for Naruto to crack a grin and tell them he was joking. Neither of them believed it. Their Mr. Perfect, god's gift, womanizing, don juan lead singer had it bad for boys. Not only that, their ragingly stupid, exorbitantly loud and annoying drummer did too! Kiba wondered what any guy would want from Naruto; he talked so damn much, more than any annoying woman would even talk.  
  
Ino on the other hand, finally got it. THAT was why Sasuke never submitted to her advances! Revelation! "For real? Naruto..." She stated incredulously.  
  
He nodded, serious look still affixed.  
  
"Wow." She whispered. "How-?"  
  
--  
  
"He is NOT my lover." Sasuke snarled. That was the last possible thing he could stand to be teased about.  
  
"Mm-hmm." The older man agreed, half-heartedly, and leaned forward, toward the boy, like he was going to say something important. "Then, what exactly have you come here to cry at me for?"   
  
Sasuke grinned a little, appreciative of his companion's harsh opinion. "I just need a little slap on the ass, like always."  
  
"Aha, a service," Kakashi said, with a flourish. "That I am always happy to provide for you." He finished, smiling.   
  
--  
  
"How did you find out?" Ino asked.  
  
"Huh? Me?" Naruto stuttered, finally sitting up to properly face his audience. "Well I guess I ALWAYS was, I just-"  
  
"No no no, about Sasuke! When did he tell you?" Ino interrupted, inching closer to her fellow blond in anticipation.  
  
"Oh." Naruto stated, a little put out. "The jerk didn't TELL me, per-say. We both kind of... guessed it. At the same time. After... we accidently made out with each other." The boy confessed, blushing.  
  
Two jaws hit the floor simultaneously. What was going on?? Just twenty minutes ago Ino and Kiba belonged to a normal, functioning, STRAIGHT quartet. Now, twenty minutes later they were nearly outnumbered! Ino eyed Kiba suspiciously for a moment, but then thought better and focused her attention elsewhere.  
  
"How do you ACCIDENTLY make out with someone??!" Ino shrieked.  
  
"Iunno. Ever been drunk?" Kiba tossed out.  
  
"You're not helping." she tossed out at Kiba. Then she refocused her attention. "Naruto??"  
  
"I- I don't know either! It just happened and neither of us knew how! Therefore, it was an accident!" Naruto explained.  
  
"So... you were drunk." Kiba offered again.  
  
"Um well see... that's the thing..."   
  
--  
  
"Agh! I didn't mean literally, you pervert!" Sasuke clutched his inflamed back end. Kakashi, always grabbing any opportunity to torture the boy, had caught him off guard and actually gave him a slap on the ass. From across his knee.  
  
Sasuke struggled to remove himself from the man's lap fruitlessly. Kakashi was just far too amused by this to let him go.   
  
"Goddamnit!" The boy struggled and cursed. Kakashi just giggled, leaned forward and planted his elbows in Sasuke's back, holding his face in his hands.   
  
"You know I'm deaf to figures of speech, Sasuke. especially ones that involve your ass..." He drawled.  
  
Sasuke's face burned at this. He hadn't exactly been intimate with the man, but neither of their intentions were exactly clear at this point. Of course Sasuke admired his boss. He was successful, intelligent, talented and... rather not bad-looking. In all the time they'd spent together, Sasuke really only considered him something of an older brother or father-figure.  
  
Kakashi on the other hand...  
  
--  
  
"We were completely. Sober." Naruto choked out, so red he was about to pop.  
  
Ino nearly fainted. This was way too much information all at once. "All right, Naruto. SLOWLY. Explain what happened."  
  
"Okay." Naruto began.  
  
"It was late. You both remember that night. Sasuke was writing 'Night Vision' and all day I could not nail the solo. You guys went home- he made me stay. Eventually we both got sick of trying and got to... like, talking. He told me all about Pinkie and Lee and how they're getting along- Sasuke still talks to her sometimes- they're fine. Still together. But he's sad that he hasn't found someone else..."  
  
Naruto paused- his voice had started to waiver.  
  
"I asked him why didn't he just pick from his lines of groupies, and he said he didn't love them. He didn't LOVE them. I thought he didn't love HER. Well, I said something like... you need to find a different hobby, one that involved NICE girls... He just laughed, said I was one to talk. Then he kissed me."  
  
--  
  
Yet another pseudo-cliffhanger. Well now you know. I think the simplest route would be to make this story SasuNaru, eh? By the way, if you're wondering about 'Pinkie' and Lee, read Hopeless Case. XD It's funny. Yay, I just got a wonderful idea how to do chapter 3 3 and it involves Ino's lazy-ass boyfriend... 


	3. Ch 3

Hoho. I have found a way to keep Kakashi in this story. I hope you approve! -shiver- And Shika is in here. I think I made him a little too sassy.. well. Let me know.  
  
--  
  
"And so he said after TWENTY MINUTES of it, they both felt awkward and just left. Without a single word." Ino finished her story with a nod.  
  
Her sweatshirt-clad companion could only stare at his girlfriend in disbelief. "Uh huh. So your band is full of queers."  
  
"Shika!" She scolded. "Be a little more sensitive. These are two of my closest friends and one of them is very confused and ashamed right now."  
  
Shikamaru, Ino's boyfriend, shook his ponytailed head from across the café table. It was morning still. Just as the early rush was beginning to die down. He had just gotten up from a grueling night of 'studying' with his friends and his head was pounding. He didn't really feel like explaining himself to Ino, but he felt even less like hearing her shriek at him.  
  
"I never said it was something to be ashamed about." He drawled. "I'm just saying... Having romantic relationships within work environments ultimately cause problems. Especially when it involves two GUYS."  
  
"Where'd you hear that, college boy? Human Sexuality 101? And how exactly would a relationship between two GUYS differ from, say, ours?" She commented coyly.   
  
He smirked and readied his reply. He leaned over the table and remarked, "If WE were both guys, I'D get to be on top at least some of the time."  
  
A grin nearly exploded onto Ino's face. She fought to contain her braying laughter because she knew he reveled in it so much. However, one more glance at her boyfriend's smirking face did her in. She was inconsolable.  
  
--  
  
Sasuke woke up and turned over, groaning and stretching languidly as he did every morning. But he also felt a pop and a creak in his hips- which only happened the morning after he had-   
  
"..shit." Managed to escape his hoarse throat.  
  
"Shit!" Again, upon discovering that his voice was, indeed, hoarse.  
  
'I wasn't... I'm not... I didn't...' He thought desperately while rubbing his sleep-filled eyes. No, it was undeniable. His hips ached that familiar morning-after-sex ache, his throat was raw from screaming, this wasn't his bed and the body next to him wasn't Naruto.  
  
Wait. What was that thought? Before he had the chance to panic even more, he body next to him awoke, rolled over, and hovered over the terrified boy.   
  
Sasuke nearly fainted. Here he was, in a strange bed, staring up at a very unapologetic half-naked man. Who also happened to be his boss.  
  
"Sasuke?" Kakashi said curiously. The boy shivered in response.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Kakashi's tone made him cringe.   
  
'Oh god.' He thought. This couldn't be real. This wasn't happening.  
  
"Whatever you're thinking- it didn't happen." The man's voice broke through his thoughts.   
  
Sasuke froze. "It... didn't happen?"  
  
Kakashi grinned and yanked the covers off his companion. "See? Fully clothed."  
  
Well, minus the shirts, but that was just a comfort thing. "But..." Sasuke stammered.  
  
"Don't you remember? Last night after you confessed your love for your bandmate you insisted we go out and get drunk. So we did."  
  
"That's all?"  
  
"That's all."  
  
After exactly one moment of relief, realization struck again. "What did I say about Naruto!!??"  
  
--  
  
Naruto lied in bed for a long time that morning. The previous eight hours had been filled with fitful bouts of sleep and incomplete dreams involving certain people. He didn't want to admit who those people really were quite yet, as he was free to do so at his leisure.   
  
Dreams mask true physical identity after all. But there was no mistake that it could be only one person haunting his dreams. It was the same person who had haunted his conscious thought the prior evening.  
  
"God damn him." Naruto mumbled softly to himself. He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest faster and faster and he didn't know why. His stomach clenched and unclenched and he shut his eyes and tried to block these feelings but...  
  
"Mother FUCKER!!" The sleepy blond yelled as the alarm clock smashed against the opposite wall. He seethed. He did NOT enjoy that smug bastard interfering with his precious sleep. Ten am was far too early for Naruto to be up. He didn't appreciate this one bit and as soon as he got to the flat was Sasuke going to get it-  
  
A definite fear ran down the blond's spine. "Damn." he whispered. He admitted it. To himself. It was Sasuke. Sasuke had been giving him the nightmares and the high blood pressure and the... godDAMNED butterflies that wouldn't go away!! And he hated it!! His head fell back into the pillows.  
  
Naruto had to get up. He had to get up! Get up! Face this! It was either now or eventually. And Naruto preferred NOW to most anything. He couldn't run away. The feelings were undeniable. Since the 'incident' Sasuke made his blood pressure rise. Sasuke made his breath quicken. Sasuke made his skin feel clammy. Just thinking about his brooding bandmate now made all his abdominal muscles tighten painfully. He hated this feeling, so he had no choice but to admit it.  
  
"I'm fucking crazy for Sasuke."  
  
"...Really?" Came a semi-interested voice from the hall outside Naruto's bedroom.  
  
Naruto knew he was notorious for leaving his door ajar, but he was also usually a quiet sleeper. And his good-for-nothing bassist of a roommate usually wasn't so nosy. The blond groaned in dismay. Another thing he would have to explain to his shrieking, female bandmate.  
  
"Yet another addition to the Sasuke fanclub. What are you- number 4673 or something?" Kiba mocked, stepping into the boy's quarters uninvited.  
  
"Shut up, asshole. I don't need this from YOU. Hey! Don't sit down!!"  
  
By this time, Kiba was seated comfortably amongst the discarded pillows and blankets at Naruto's feet. "Chill. For once, I'm NOT gonna break your balls over it." Kiba explained.  
  
"...Why?" Naruto inquired softly.  
  
"Because it's serious! I know, believe it or not. My family gave my sister a lot of crap for being a dyke. I mean, she was still the same person as she was before we knew. I loved her all the same, but... seemed like they thought it was a disease or something."  
  
The boy laughed suddenly. "That is, until she married a doctor! Hahah! Money knows no gender I guess, heh. At least to MY family it don't."  
  
"That's not it." Naruto said. "I couldn't care less what anyone thinks and I don't HAVE a family to appease. Just... why Sasuke?"  
  
--  
  
Kakashi cocked his head to one side. "About Naruto?"  
  
Sasuke slapped his hand over his mouth on reflex alone.  
  
The older man smirked. "Who ever said anything about Naruto?"  
  
Sasuke was milliseconds away from bolting to the bathroom to revisit his last meal when Kakashi laughed and smiled.  
  
"I'm just kidding. You didn't say anything I didn't already know. You love him. You want him. You can't stop thinking about him."  
  
"Enough! God! Just... Let me think for a minute okay?! Psycho." Sasuke slumped back into the pillow and tried to get his head back in some semblance of order. So at some point the previous night he had confirmed Kakashi's suspicions that he did indeed have feelings for his idiotic blond bandmate.   
  
Meanwhile the man beside him just pouted. He knew for a long time that there was something different between these two boys. Neither would admit it, of course, and that had frustrated him. He was intent on playing matchmaker. But now that it was out, so to speak...   
  
Well he'd grown rather comfortable having Sasuke under his sheets.  
  
--  
  
omg what. Kakashi is turning out to be a lech! I hope you didn't think he actually took advantage of poor defenseless -cough- little -cough hack- Sasuke. Naruto needs to stop being so sensitive. But I like the idea of him and Kiba being roommates AND bandmates. Just another reason why they bicker so. This footnote is turning out way longer than I anticipated so next chapter- the confrontation! 


	4. Ch 4

Uhh what chapter is this? Regardless, Naruto and Sasuke finally confront each other. Let's watch!  
  
--  
  
When he arrived, the place was empty. It felt sad and lonely and the only sure thing was the sound of his sandals clopping along the loft floor. He walked in a sad trudge across the expanse between the elevator and the platform where he would wait. Naruto reached his destination, set down the plastic bag he was carrying and brusquely turned and sat.   
  
He began immediate work on his fingernails, gnawing them down, evening out the rough parts. There he sat, deep in thought, uncharacteristically unaware of his own nervous gestures.  
  
It wasn't long before Naruto felt his pants start to vibrate- cell phone- and it startled the hell out of him. He clutched his heart with one hand and answered the call with the other. It was Ino. She wasn't coming in today. Naruto rested his chin in his hands on his knees. Kiba had opted to ditch today too.   
  
'Which means,' he thought as he pressed the red button to end the call, 'It's just me and him.'  
  
--  
  
The whole world was against him.  
  
It had to be. Sasuke brooded and stalked his way to the loft, where he would be forced to confront Naruto. Alone.  
  
Ino AND Kiba had decided to play hooky, as Sasuke thought when he received the cell phone calls. Aside from that, he had narrowly escaped Kakashi's clutches after awaking to the most intensely frightening misconception imaginable. However he was immensely relieved that he didn't in fact fool around with his boss while in a drunken stupor. Still, it was shaping up to be one entirely painful day.  
  
The angry brunet turned into the loft's ground floor entrance, thrust the elevator doors open and mashed the top floor button. He would not give in, would not show his feelings, would not let this little... crush sway him!  
  
Then the doors slid open, and there upon the platform sat a little blond ball that seemed so sad. Sasuke stared endearingly across the expanse at the precious being whose head was nestled in his own lap. He unknowingly started toward the boy, but halted- then continued after noting that he was ignoring any noise that was made.   
  
"Morose isn't your usual demeanor..." Sasuke drawled at the still oblivious curled-up Naruto. Moments later, with no warning, Naruto's head shot up, nearly snapping his own neck as he gasped. Upon seeing his tormentor, the 'morose' one's demeanor immediately changed.  
  
"Yeah, well, punching me in the face isn't your usual either." Naruto was positively sour. Not at all what he intended to come off as a minute before while he was thinking of what to say. Sasuke got defensive.  
  
"Well you blabbing secrets... is... what you usually do... But it's a damn shitty thing to do!" Sasuke finished his stuttering tirade in time to notice his companion's scowl fading. He ditched his own grimace. 'Rats,' he thought, 'I'm letting him get to me. I need to say something...!'  
  
"I'm sorry." the smaller one managed to utter first. "God. I'm sorry. Like, what do you want me to say? I didn't mean it? I DID mean it! But I'm... here."  
  
While Sasuke gaped at the pseudo-apology, Naruto turned and dug through the plastic bag to his side. He pulled out a teeny box and stood up to square his shoulders at Sasuke.  
  
"I did some thinking on the walk over this morning- no, it didn't hurt-" Naruto sardonically interrupted himself, "And I thought about what I said and what I meant and what happened that night a while back and... about a lot of stuff. Like how much that punch hurt and how I couldn't sleep and your face."  
  
"My face?" the singer asked, still absorbing the boy's explanations.  
  
"Yeah. The one in my dreams that was screaming at me and trying to kiss me at the same time. Not a comforting image to sleep by, I might add."  
  
"Oh... sorry." he apologized quietly.  
  
"Don't be, it's my messed up subconscious. So, right, this. I stopped and got you something. Don't ask me why, I was feeling obligated and it won't happen again soon, I promise." The blond offered the teeny box to a very lost looking young man. Sasuke took it and was almost afraid to open it. He looked into his bandmate's eyes for a moment for signs of sincerity and instead found fear and slight apprehension. Without thinking, Sasuke thrust his right hand out and planted it on Naruto's chest below his left clavicle.   
  
Naruto's eyes widened and he quirked an eyebrow at this odd display. Sasuke yet held his hand there, unfazed by his friend's shock. Finally, the brunet smiled a little and scoffed.  
  
"What could possibly be in this box that would make your heart pound like that?"  
  
Naruto shoved Sasuke's hand off his precious being. "Just open it, jerk."  
  
Sasuke smirked and refocused his attention to the box. Slowly, he slid the top off and was surprised for the umpteenth time in the last five minutes. It was a key. A little silver uncut key that was completely plain, except for the teeny engraved 'B'.  
  
"That black cord you wear around your neck is so boring, so... well you better wear it. The people at the hardware store AND the engravers thought I was nuts." Naruto explained.  
  
"I dunno what to say... Why did you do this?" Sasuke's face was unreadable, which made Naruto even more flustered.   
  
"Because I'm awful with this whole 'I'm sorry' thing and normally I'd just ignore you until we HAD to cooperate. But this time it felt different." Naruto continued while staring into his friend's eyes, "I felt like I couldn't ignore your ass anymore."  
  
The blond reached out and pressed his right hand into the left side of Sasuke's chest. He smiled. "Drop the mask, poker face, I can read you like a book."  
  
"Can you?" Sasuke quietly asked and leaned into Naruto's touch. The small boy blushed hard and laughed nervously.  
  
"Geez- isn't this how it started last time?" and he laughed again.  
  
Sasuke looked off to the side distractedly for a moment before returning his intent gaze to his companion.  
  
"Nope. Last time we were on the couch." and he smiled.  
  
--  
  
Okaaayyy I have options here. As you may know, I'm a big fan of just skipping over the good parts and simply describing them vaguely in a follow-up. Truth told, I'm a biiig fan of subtlety. The other option is to attempt to go into detail (or as much detail as this site will allow) sooo I guess only feedback will tell! 


	5. Ch 5

werrd. Here we go with chapter... uh this chapter. 5? no, 6. 5. heh. I'm glad most of you like subtlety because subtlety ahoy! AND I have a surprise for yoouuuu...

--

'Well, it happened.' the boy thought. And it so happened that neither of them felt embarrassed, guilty or ashamed this time. In fact, they were both quite satisfied with the quality AND quantity of their 'interactions'. Forever now would they have a reason to snicker whenever someone would flop down on the loft's couch, blissfully unaware.

'It really happened.' Sasuke thought again, not quite through pinching himself.

His blond companion yet slept with a rosy cheek pressed into the pillow- a sign of his fatigue. The conscious one smiled and wondered how someone as irritating as this boy could be so goddamned serene when asleep. Sasuke wanted to wake him up just to witness the transition from this bizarro Naruto to the one he knew so well.

Having changed locations once their activities required more surface area, Sasuke now shifted around under his own sheets in an attempt to rouse the blond on his bed. It had been satisfying finally showing Naruto his home and be almost immediately shoved into the bedroom. The stagnancy of the location didn't matter, though. As long as Naruto wanted to be there with him that's where he'd want to be.

"Damn." Sasuke cursed quietly. He felt himself falling for this boy- hard. He had to wake him up-

"Hey- wake up, dummy."

The drummer didn't respond.

"I know you're awake, shrimp, now get up."

The former angel suddenly grimaced.

"Jerk! Last night was PERFECT, why do you- havta... "

Naruto was silenced by a swift capture of his lips by Sasuke's. Sasuke shifted Naruto onto his back and hovered over him, progressively deepening the kiss. The little silver charm around Sasuke's neck dangled tantalizingly over Naruto's throat and the smaller boy shivered when the cold metal touched his skin. Right when the blond was at his mercy, Sasuke stopped and asked, "What were you saying?"

"Hm?" Naruto dazedly responded.

The brunet smiled "It's Wednesday."

"Oh. I guess we should get to the loft." said Naruto.

Sasuke nodded, made no other motion to rise.

"Soooo..." the blond said before being cut off again by greedy lips and an insatiable body pressed into his as gravity took effect.

Naruto figured it was useless to resist something like GRAVITY. So.

--

They were in the loft by three.

"What the HELL, you two!?" Ino crowed.

Naruto winced, knowing better than to defy her when he was already up shit creek. Sasuke however,

"What the hell yourself. You didn't even show up yesterday."

"At least I had the decency to call you! How do you expect us to get anywhere missing TWO days of practice? To be frank, Sasuke, your singing sucks fatties lately and I think-" Ino's berating was disrupted once she noticed a teensy gesture of intimacy between the two boys she faced- two little intertwined pinkies. Fair and tan complexions wound together. She gasped lightly.

"Maybe, eh, maybe YOU didn't get anywhere yesterday, Ino." he smirked, knowingly, "And I'm not the only one who's been sucking fatties..." he said while turning his head toward Naruto.

"SASUKE GEEZ!!" he shrieked.

Kiba, who had been merely observing the whole time, nearly died laughing.

Ino was so shocked, she too began to laugh.

Sasuke laughed.

Naruto fumed.

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING! You guys don't even wanna KNOW what he did to mph-"

"That's quite enough." Sasuke pressed his hand over Naruto's mouth before he could continue. "We have guests."

Naruto shoved the obtrusive hand away with a 'bleh'. "Pinkie!"

And there Sakura sat, wide-eyed and paralyzed. And right next to her was her equally surprised, be-speckled boyfriend.

"Heeyy four-eyes! Those new, Lee? How are you guys?" prattled the blond, oblivious of the duo's shock.

"Yyyyyeah." Lee answered belatedly.

"Sasuke?" Sakura squeaked.

Sasuke looked confused for a moment, but realization soon hit him like a brick. "No! Sakura, you didn't make me gay!"

The entire loft gaped at the singer's uncharacteristic outburst. He swiftly became florid and looked at the floor.

"Well you didn't..." He mumbled.

The general attention then shifted to Sakura, who was visibly relieved. Lee squeezed her hand supportively and smiled.

"Wow." Ino remarked. "Awkward."

Naruto disregarded the potentially uncomfortable situation and resumed his one-sided conversation with 'Pinkie'.

"What're you guys doing here? Didja hear the new song? I like your shoes, Sakura! I heard you guys were getting married..."

"Hehe- we're here to say hi, haven't heard it yet, thanks and not true." Sakura answered "Dummy." She added, playfully.

The blond pouted. Sasuke took a seat next to Lee while his newest lover jabbered on with the girl.

"Rebound?" Lee asked.

"Hardly" came the sardonic reply.

Lee shrunk at Sasuke's tone. Despite it all, he still felt ashamed and guilty having stolen Sakura away from him. And, truth told, Sasuke still felt traces of bitterness.

In the distant past it had always been him, Naruto and Sakura. They grew up together. It was natural for the three of them to be in love with each other without even knowing it. The brooding singer may have been irritated with one, if not both of them more often than not, but inside it was different. The three of them had always been deeply in love, with no mind of gender or sexual preference. It was only matter of time before something physical happened.

All of this was explained to Lee after a particularly awkward situation in which a certain name was uttered during a MOST inappropriate moment. It had hurt him, of course, most notably in the ego and libido, but he enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about his beloved Sakura.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was quite upset when news of this situation reached his ears. Not so much that it was his name being cried out in the throes of passion, but that said throes of passion had occurred. The idea of his still closest friend in bed with someone else had taken time for him to fully swallow. But he trusted Lee. Lee could and DID treat her right.

"Not EVEN a rebound, loser. I've always had him." Sasuke said with a grin. "And I'll ALWAYS have both of them."

Lee conceded. He knew it would be impossible for him to fully separate his lover from her previous. There were times when he would be watching Sakura sitting still, drawing her with a look in her eyes he just KNEW were caused by thoughts of Sasuke.

It didn't matter, though. They had all moved on. They were all finally HAPPY.

--

The day quickly changed from a practice session to a casual get-together. Ino gave Shikamaru a reason to ditch class and he came over. Lee called up two of his best friends who also went to school nearby. Kiba called up the cute girl he'd been meaning to who was also a bassist.

Naruto and Sasuke ran to the corner place to get a couple of pizzas- at a discount, of course, as to Naruto's chagrin Sasuke 'knew' the counter girl. So from there the evening went, Lee introducing Sakura to his childhood friends, Kiba chatting up his little girl-friend who blushed and giggled reluctantly at his crude jokes, and Ino and Shikamaru sharing stories with the other couples about their mutual friends.

Sasuke, ever the antisocial, was content with listening and Naruto, ever intent on pleasing his loved ones remained on the sidelines with him.

"Naruto?" queried the mute brunet at long last.

"Hm?" came the half-interested reply.

The former looked into the eyes of the latter and saw absolutely nothing different from what he usually saw. Defiance, annoyance, a little bit of charming stupidity and that definite true-to-Naruto spark were all there and nothing more. He realized that nothing had truly changed despite them having slept together the night- and morning- prior. More importantly, Sasuke felt not much different about the adorably dim blond now as he did a week ago. Personally he felt liberated, open, purified and, above all, happy. But about Naruto...

"What is it, you weirdo? SPEAK."

He still had it in him to punch that brat square in the jaw.

--

SURPRISE THAT'S THE END AHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAAAHAHA yeah. I like stories where everything pretty much ends up the same. So much more satisfying and ahh. :) content. SO NO BITCHING ME OUT TO CONTINUE OK GEEZ. Because I, in true Hopeless Case style, have another surprise in mind. But yer gonna have to wait. Ha.


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